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Damage Caused by Tropical Storm Cindy; Shasta Groene's Grandmother, Aunt Discuss Abduction, Murder of Her Mother

Aired July 06, 2005 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A developing story this hour as tropical storm Cindy makes land, pounding coastal towns from Louisiana to Florida. And more is on the way. Tropical storm Dennis is now gaining strength and it could be a hurricane as early as today.
Developments in the Natalee Holloway investigation. Can eyewitnesses link a car owned by the Van Der Sloot family to the beach where Natalee disappeared? Reaction ahead from Natalee's mother and stepfather.

And just moments ago, the official announcement from Singapore...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The International Olympic Committee has the honor of announcing that the Games of the 30th Olympiad in 2012 are awarded to the City of London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Huge excitement in London as the city wins the 2012 Olympic Games.

All ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you.

I guess folks in New York are crying in their bagels this morning and they're hoisting a few Guinesses.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. In fact, many places around the globe...

M. O'BRIEN: They're not sure how this happened.

S. O'BRIEN: ... where they did not win the Olympics, including here in New York City.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: At this morning, our other top story, that big storm included lots of rain in the Gulf Coast. Tropical storm Cindy came ashore overnight. It could have been a lot worse, though. M. O'BRIEN: Yes. And behind it, Dennis, is truly potentially a category three hurricane and big trouble. And that's where we begin this morning.

Tornado watches are in effect, and warnings, as well, in Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, has tropical storm Cindy sweeps through the area. Earlier, heavy rains and gusty winds pounded southeastern Louisiana as Cindy came ashore while you were sleeping.

Dan Lothian wasn't sleeping.

He was up all night in New Orleans -- and, Dan, what did you see?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.

Well, many of the folks here consider what Cindy did somewhat of a dress rehearsal for the next big storm coming here, Dennis. That's the one that many believe will pack a much more powerful punch.

But nonetheless, Cindy did cause some problems here in Louisiana, certainly in the New Orleans region, when the storm came ashore last night.

What we saw mainly, high winds, up to 70 miles per hour, and localized flooding. There were some areas, as you can see, with cars passing through what appeared to be small streams. Also, the high winds causing trees to go down and power lines to go down. Tens of thousands of people are still without power. The power company brought in extra crews to help restore power in many of the areas. But those trees that are down, it will take some time to move them. They have blocked off some roads.

At the peak of this storm here, we are told that there was between, what, three to maybe six inches of rain falling here. So you can see a lot of rain falling in a short period of time causing some problems. But right now, as you can see behind me, it's relatively calm. The Mississippi River is calm. There were some whitecaps on it overnight as the wind was whipping through here. But all eyes now focusing ahead to what Dennis may bring to the region -- back to you.

M. O'BRIEN: I guess you're going to have to stay put, Dan Lothian.

Thank you very much.

LOTHIAN: That's right.

M. O'BRIEN: Chad Myers is at the CNN Weather Center. He's tracking Cindy, telling what it's going to do to the Southeastern United States. And then tell us about Dennis -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. The very latest coming out on Cindy is it's down to 50 miles per hour and we knew that it would start to lose intensity as it lost the ocean. The ocean is its fuel. When it runs over land, it starts to lose intensity. That's every hurricane, every tropical storm ever.

Now, what we don't lose is the potential for tornadoes. In fact, a tornado warning for Escambia in central Illinois -- Alabama; extreme Baldwin, southwest of Escambia and extreme Northwest Santa Rosa in Florida, as the storm that I'm about to show you here, this red zone right here, is seeing some spin with it. And I've been just looking at the local Doppler radar and it actually is spinning to the north of Pensacola and it's going to be moving on up into the northern sections of Alabama there.

Eventually this whole storm continues to spin all day long. It is moving away, moving on up into Alabama, into Mississippi, into Atlanta, Georgia. We could see five inches of rain in Atlanta from this system.

But this is our focus today. This is Dennis. We have days to get ready for this, but this is a major storm. This thing could be a category three and, you know, the way it's looking now, it could even be stronger than that, Miles, as it gets into the Caribbean, back on up into, passes Cuba and then by Sunday is in the Gulf of Mexico.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: So, Chad, if you were at NASA, would you tell them to roll the shuttle back off the pad and into the hangar?

MYERS: You know, I've got a question for you. How long does that take, Miles?

M. O'BRIEN: It takes a full day.

MYERS: No, you don't have to do it yet.

M. O'BRIEN: OK.

MYERS: I would probably wait until at least tomorrow afternoon, where it will be very close to Jamaica. This thing is seeming to still go left for me, which means it gets into the Gulf and not into the Atlantic. And so as long as that happens, the shuttle is going to be fine. But I don't think you can probably wait past tomorrow afternoon.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, the launch is planned for a week from today.

MYERS: I know.

M. O'BRIEN: We'll see what happens.

Chad, thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's get a check on some other headlines.

Kelly Wallace here with that -- Kelly, good morning. KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Miles.

Good morning to you.

And good morning, everyone.

Here are some of those stories now in the news.

President Bush heading to Scotland this hour for the G8 summit. That's the summit of the leaders of the seven industrialized nations plus Russia. The president left Copenhagen just moments ago. He was there to thank Danish officials for their support in Iraq.

Back in Scotland, demonstrators armed with bricks and iron bars smashed cars, including a police van. Several dozen were arrested.

Chilling details about the abduction of two Idaho children. According to court documents, 8-year-old Shasta Groene told investigators that the suspect, Joseph Duncan, repeatedly raped her and her 9-year-old brother Dylan. Shasta also linked Duncan to the murders of her mother, older brother and her mother's boyfriend.

What you're looking at now is surveillance video that captured the two several hours before her rescue over the weekend. Joseph Duncan made an initial court appearance Tuesday. He is being held without bail.

A CNN "Security Watch" for you now. Chemical plants in the United States could be vulnerable to terrorists. That's according to congressional researchers in a report being released today. Some experts say at least 100 chemical plants are located near the country's largest population centers and could become potential targets. Of course, stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Two reporters could be ordered to jail today for refusing to divulge their confidential sources. Matthew Cooper works for "Time" magazine. Judith Miller is with the "New York Times." At issue, an investigation into who leaked a CIA operative's name to the press. "Time" magazine has already turned over Cooper's notes and e-mails. The federal special prosecutor, though, still is demanding his testimony.

And the stage set for the 2012 Summer Olympics to take place in London. The International Olympic Committee making the announcement just within the past 15 minutes, to the great delight of the British people and the disappointment of the French. London becomes the first city to stage the Games for a third time.

So, sadness in Paris; happiness in London.

S. O'BRIEN: I was going to stay, much joy in other parts of the world.

WALLACE: Exactly.

S. O'BRIEN: All right.

M. O'BRIEN: The best of times, the worst of times, as they say.

WALLACE: Best of times.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you, Kelly.

WALLACE: Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, thanks.

Well, Shasta Groene, as we have been telling you, is recovering from her ordeal in an Idaho hospital now. The 8-year-old is helping police, though, with some very graphic details about her kidnapping and her molestation, and connected the suspect, as well, Joseph Duncan, to that triple murder at her home. Police believe that remains that they found in Montana are those of Shasta's brother Dylan.

The children's aunt, Misty Cooper, and the grandmother, Darlene Marie Torres, join us from Couer d'Alene in Idaho.

Thank you, ladies, for speaking with us.

We certainly appreciate your time this morning.

You have suffered just a terrible loss -- your daughter, Darlene, murdered; her boyfriend; your grandson, as well, Dylan. As you know, it's believed he did not survive. And yet you have Shasta back. I guess I'm wondering how are you doing and how are you holding up in light of all of this?

DARLENE MARIE TORRES, IDAHO CHILDREN'S GRANDMOTHER: Devastated. It's been hard. We go in and out. We have rough days. It's very hard, very depressing. I just don't know how to -- it's hard to explain the feelings. It's -- it's just beyond belief.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I can imagine, or, really, I cannot imagine.

Misty, how is Shasta doing? I mean in the pictures that we've seen with her dad, she looks pretty good. She's smiling a little bit.

MISTY COOPER, IDAHO CHILDREN'S AUNT: Oh, yes, she's smiling. She's playing with her cousins at the hospital and stuff, and showing them everything. And just like a little girl, you know, just like our little Shastaere.

S. O'BRIEN: That's really good to hear.

She has been very helpful, as you know, to investigators and, of course, she's recounting some of the things, of course, that are just terrible for any child to have to talk about. That must be very, very tough.

Do you guys think about that?

COOPER: Oh, yes.

TORRES: Oh, yes. Yes.

COOPER: Yes.

TORRES: She's a real strong little girl, though. A really strong little girl.

S. O'BRIEN: Some of the things that she's told investigators is that, in fact, Joseph Duncan was at the house. She places him. She's the only person who places him at the house and thereby might be a step toward linking him to the triple murder.

Did you know Joseph Duncan? Have you ever heard his name? Does he have any connection with your daughter or the...

TORRES: Never heard the name.

S. O'BRIEN: ... or the family?

COOPER: No.

TORRES: Never heard the name before now, ever.

COOPER: We never met him, never even heard his name. This is the first time that we've ever heard about him...

S. O'BRIEN: What do you know...

COOPER: So he has no connection with the family.

S. O'BRIEN: Do you know anything about the circumstances of that night, about what happened?

TORRES: No, just what we've heard or what you've heard, too, probably, from the FBI and the authorities. They're still working on it and I'm sure they're not going to give up until they know for sure that just exactly what happened.

S. O'BRIEN: I have to imagine that you feel very grateful toward the people who -- the waitress, really, at the end of the day, at Denny's, who her sharp eyes recognized and I guess she tried delaying tactics of trying to keep them in the restaurant for a long time.

Any message that you'd like to send to her? Have you had a chance to talk to her at all?

COOPER: We haven't talked to her right now. We brought her some flowers and a card, and we thank her very much for what she did.

TORRES: We plan on thanking her in person as soon as we can all get down there. We've just been kind of blogged down lately.

S. O'BRIEN: I'm sure you saw this videotape inside the convenience store of Shasta kind of wandering around. And I, you know, to me, she looks almost like she's looking for help. I mean you see her kind of gaze up at people every once in a while on the surveillance videotape. And you see the person she was found with, the suspect, Joseph Duncan, is not that close to her. And he's reading a newspaper at times.

Many people have said why would she not just run or scream or attract attention to herself?

Can you -- how does she look to you in the videotape?

TORRES: We were devastated when we seen that. And the only thing we can think of is she had her little arms folded and was looking up at people like please help me, please recognize my face. But at that time, you know, I don't -- I'm sure she was threatened in some way or something is why she didn't take off, just scared.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes, that's how it looked to me, too.

Well, you've had such a tough time and we really appreciate you talking to us this morning. And I know you've got a lot more ahead, as well, as this information comes from Shasta and the investigation continues.

Thank you, Darlene Marie Torres and Misty Cooper, Dylan's and Shasta's grandmother and aunt, joining us this morning.

TORRES: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: It's just heart -- it's just heartbreaking.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, you know, and you think all this investigation penned on this little girl, who, you know, if you take it the next step, at some point she's going to have to testify and tell her story.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: And it goes to court and, I mean she's tough now, but she's eight years old.

M. O'BRIEN: Hard to imagine that ordeal at any age, much less eight.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh.

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on our program, Saudi Arabia's new list of most wanted terrorists -- are they helping insurgents in Iraq? We'll talk with a Saudi embassy diplomat next.

S. O'BRIEN: Also ahead this morning, a CNN exclusive. A look inside one of the African hospices started by Mother Teresa. It's a place where cameras have never gone, until now.

M. O'BRIEN: And actress Angelina Jolie, ah, Angelina Jolie. Oh, I'm sorry. There's a story to tell. I apologize. I got distracted.

S. O'BRIEN: Do you need me to do this for you? M. O'BRIEN: You know, she has the same plane I have. I'd love to give her a lesson. Anyway, she answers the call to help the poor and the hungry in Africa by adding to her family. See, she's got a good heart, too.

Stay with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.

S. O'BRIEN: Gorgeous and a good heart.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: In Saudi Arabia, the government says steps are being taken to step up its own war on terror. The Saudis last week published a new list of 36 most wanted terrorists. Those names coming after the Saudis said they killed or captured 23 terrorists on their original list of 26. Sunday, the number one al Qaeda operative on the new list was killed by Saudi security forces in Riyadh.

Nail al-Jubeir is director of information for the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington.

Mr. Al-Jubeir, good to have you with us.

NAIL AL-JUBEIR, SAUDI EMBASSY SPOKESMAN: A pleasure.

M. O'BRIEN: I'd like to talk to you about that list. But first, I did want to ask you, because we've been talking a lot this morning about those attempted kidnappings and shootings of diplomatic emissaries in Baghdad, when will the Saudis be sending a diplomat, an ambassador or some sort of consulate representative, to Baghdad?

AL-JUBEIR: Well, we are working on that. We have been talking with the Iraqis. There's a delegation from Iraq in Saudi Arabia currently checking out their Iraqi embassy there. We're possibly looking at sending an ambassador there.

But, you know, you have to remember, security is of biggest concern for us. As we have seen, the kidnapping of -- attempted kidnapping of the Bahrainian ambassador, the attempted kidnapping of the -- or, rather, the Bahrainian representative, as well as the Pakistani representative; the kidnapping of the Egyptian are something that we're concerned about.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, Mr. Al-Jubeir, in many cases, they were just drying alone in vehicles. So maybe it's just a security situation.

Do you feel, symbolically, at least, it's important for the Saudis to have a mission there?

AL-JUBEIR: Well, we've always felt that we need to establish our relationship with our neighbors. The president of Iraq has been to Saudi Arabia, so have senior officials from Iraq to Saudi Arabia. We've been working closely with the Iraqis. At the end of the day, it's a matter of security.

Now, the United States has its presence there. It has 138,000 U.S. troops there. We can't send 180,000 troops to protect. It is a concern in terms of being able -- and you can't bunker yourself behind a wall and claim to be a representative if it's just raising the flag. And we want to be more than that. We want to be able to reach out to the Iraqi people, to help them out.

But barricading ourselves behind barriers and walls defeats the purpose.

M. O'BRIEN: So you don't see this happening any time soon?

AL-JUBEIR: Well, we're working on it in terms of trying to be able to set a mission there. And there was talk about naming an ambassador soon.

Now, in view of what's happening now and in view of the terrorist action targeting Arab and Muslim representatives, it's something of a concern that we have had.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, let's get to the other subject here, al- Hayari, a Moroccan, at the top of your list of 36 most wanted, captured. Interesting that it's a Moroccan.

Tell me about him.

AL-JUBEIR: Well, he is Moroccan, traveling on a Bosnian passport. He came in Saudi Arabia in early 2001, part of the Hajj, and blended in and disappeared. He lived the luxury life. He wasn't on the radar screen. He moved into an upper middle class neighborhood, drove a late model Mercedes, spoke classical Arabic. So people didn't really think it was him.

But in reality this guy was, so to speak, the puppeteer. He was a strategist, not a field commander. But as the commanders were taken out one after another, he came out from the shadows. And that's when we realized what he -- who he was and went after him.

It was a shootout. He was basically the most important person in Saudi Arabia to be caught after Swift Sword. He had links to al Qaeda operatives outside Saudi Arabia. He had links to the spiritual mentor of Zarqawi, who was killed in Iraq. So he was the link to the outside world. It's a major, major accomplishment for our security operations. It shows that we are getting better in tracking these individuals.

But he was considered a master of disguise. You know, for about two years or so, no, almost four years, he was living in the country and for most, over two-and-a-half years, we had no idea that -- which he was.

M. O'BRIEN: Now, Nail Al-Jubeir is director of information for the Saudi Arabian embassy.

One down, 35 to go, sir.

Good luck to you.

AL-JUBEIR: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, still to come this morning, a CNN exclusive. It's a place that cameras have never been before -- the African hospice that was started by Mother Teresa. You'll meet those who are caring for those who need it the most in their hour of need.

Stay with us.

You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Leaders of the world's most industrialized nations are starting to arrive in Scotland for the G8 summit. One of the centerpiece topics will be poverty in Africa. When you consider this -- by the end of this hour, AIDS will have killed another 13 Ethiopians.

Chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour takes you now to a place where cameras have never been. It's one of the hospices that was established by the late Mother Teresa, where the sick and the dying can receive dignity in their final hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is where poverty ends. With a tap on the head, the dying are summoned, lifted to their feet and ushered through the door. Inside, a calm, peaceful place where the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by the late Mother Theresa, minister to the sick.

Here, patients lie two to a bed, most too weak to stand. Many move nothing but their eyes.

Sister Benedicta oversees the hospital here in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

(on camera): You've been here for 15 years. Did you think it would get better? Did you think that you would still keep seeing these kind of skeletal women, patients?

SISTER BENEDICTA: I have seen them when I came to Ethiopia because of the civil war and farming. But now still I see them. And there are, I think, more -- and a whole more because of HIV/AIDS.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Six hundred adults are here. Ninety percent of them are infected with the AIDS virus, and every day brings three, four or even five deaths. Francesca Church is 18-years old and far from her London home. It's an intense experience for someone so young.

(on camera): How do you cope?

FRANCESCA CHURCH, VOLUNTEER: Faith is the only way that I can cope. And I came here and I think that's one -- that's my one strength is that I know that when these people go, that they're going to god. That's the incredible beauty of it is that, that you come into this room and these people are dying and there's nothing you can do. You can just love them and do the very best you can to make sure that their last moments, the very fact that there was someone there.

AMANPOUR: Here, where the sick line up for what little medicine is available, where incense billows in crowded rooms, death is part of everyday life. But hope still endures.

SISTER BENEDICTA: These people teach us what is heaven, you know?

AMANPOUR: So do these people -- the more than 500 children who live at the mission. They were either abandoned by their poverty stricken parents or orphaned by AIDS. Police find them on the streets and bring them here into the sisters' care. About half of them are HIV positive.

But others are healthy. They look towards a bright future beyond these walls and beyond the extreme poverty of Ethiopia, hoping they may soon be adopted abroad.

Christiane Amanpour, CNN, with the Missionaries of Charity, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: According to U.N. statistics, there are more than 25 million people in Africa living with HIV. About one-and-a-half million are in Ethiopia alone.

Actress Angelina Jolie is adopting a newborn Ethiopian girl who's been orphaned by AIDS. "People" magazine is reporting that Jolie says she plans to name the baby Zahara Marley. Jolie is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and she says that after a recent trip to Africa, her son Maddox, who is also adopted, has been asking for an African brother or sister.

Well, Maddox, you're getting a sister -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Good for her, good for them.

Still to come, tropical storm Cindy strikes the Gulf Coast. High winds, lots of rain, trees and power lines down. And tropical storm Dennis -- this is the sequel you don't want to hear about. It's barreling through the Caribbean right now. It's gaining strength. Category three potentially, maybe worse. We, of course, are all over both storms because we've got Chad.

That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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